The Saturn: A Good Car.

After we got the van, we found ourselves in possession of three vehicles: the Odyssey, the CR-V, and the Saturn. Following many discussions about which of our original vehicles to keep, we decided to keep my CR-V. Quite a few factors went into this decision, obviously.

One complicating element was that the Saturn had actually been officially "totaled" after the 2008 tornado at Union. However, the damage was mostly cosmetic (unlike my completely trashed Mazda), so the Boswells made the decision to buy it back on a salvage title and have the repairs fixed, as the car was otherwise in fine condition. And it hasn't had any problems since early 2008. Because of the salvage title, though, it's not exactly "worth" anything. There's no trade-in value, only scrap value, so we knew that if we kept the Saturn, we'd be driving it until it died. This presented us with a quandary: there's no reason to get rid of it (no monetary value) but it's also smaller and more compact than the CR-V (not as convenient for hauling small humans and all of their paraphernalia). The CR-V was (is) also in great condition, paid for (thanks to my parents, post-tornado) and has more space for the aforementioned small humans and their paraphernalia.

What to do?

After MUCH deliberation, we decided that we would keep the CR-V. It's bigger, roomier, still has trade-in value. It was such a decision, y'all...which left us with the quandary of what to do with the Saturn. I realize this is a #firstworldproblem situation: too many cars... what to do??

We prayed about it and discussed it and mulled it over. Long story short(ened), we signed it over to some friends of ours who are a Ph.D. family of 4 with 1 car, who could benefit from an extra set of wheels. As happy as I am that we could pass it along, I have to say that I experienced some melancholy about Brad's car; it was the car that we went on our first date in, drove away from our wedding in, that Brad drove his J-Crib kids around Jackson in, and that we've taken many a trip in. It holds a lot of memories, and I had a harder time saying goodbye than I expected. Granted, some of that emotion might have been pregnancy hormones, but I think I would have felt an element of sadness anyway. We were driving around in that car the night we got engaged. We've had countless conversations about life in there. We've laughed a lot in there and some of us (me) have had moments of crying in there. It's just been a great car, and strange as it sounds, I miss it a little bit.

And, because I'm overly sentimental, I had Brad snap some last shots of the Saturn before signing it over. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so he was a sport and did it for me.

I insisted on this shot, too. He's such a good guy.

And to add to the emotion of the situation, here's a shot of Baby Claire play-driving back when she still had baby chub on her cheeks. Oh man. It's almost too much to deal with.

So, dear Saturn, we bid you a fond farewell and thank you for your service and for all the memories. Hang in there for a long time so that our friends can come to love you as much as we do. Also, Brad is really sorry that that packet of Chick-Fil-A barbecue sauce leaked all in your cup holder and then didn't get cleaned up for ages. It is absolutely no reflection on how we feel about you. Love: Brad, Erin, and Claire